


different

by miracleboysatori



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bullying, Childhood, Gen, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 07:02:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10916760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miracleboysatori/pseuds/miracleboysatori
Summary: Satori is an “outcast”.





	different

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is a short thing I cranked out today for [Tendou Week on tumblr!](http://tendou-week.tumblr.com/) The prompt for today is Childhood/Future, and since I drew something for 'Future' I decided to write for the other prompt! 
> 
> I'm hoping to get something short done for each day this week! Anything for my favorite boy ;u;

Satori is “different”.

What exactly that means he isn’t sure. All he knows is that “different” is basically synonymous with “unusual”, or “strange”, which are all words he’s heard spoken about him as well as directed towards him. Words he has to specifically ask his teachers the meaning of because he kept hearing them whispered in the halls and called out while at the park.

He’s heard them from practically everyone, including his father, though he’s rarely home as it is. He’s usually off in a different prefecture, sometimes a different country, leaving only with the excuse of it being “for work”. It used to bother him. Lately, though… it doesn’t faze him. He doesn’t even have to do double takes anymore when he notices his father isn’t in the kitchen in the mornings before school. He knows his father is busy. He knows he has work to do. He is okay with this. It isn’t “unusual” anymore.

His father has a calm voice, an icy demeanor. He tells Satori that “if he keeps acting that way, nobody will want to play with him”. But Satori doesn’t really understand that. Why should he feel bad for being the way he is? Why should he have to change his odd hobbies, strange quirks, and weird habits just for people to want to play with him? Maybe other people should learn to be “different”. Because in Satori’s mind, “different” is cool. It sets you apart, makes you stand out. And what could be wrong with that?

Unfortunately, the older Satori gets, the more he realizes how much of a double-edged sword being “different” is.

Satori is “weird”. 

He’s heard the words so many times at this point that they don’t tear open new wounds anymore, they just rip off the bandages and the scabs that he’s worked so hard to keep in place. He’s heard them so many times that he doesn’t cry in the hallways anymore, he doesn’t run home in a fit anymore when he hears them at the park. He doesn’t bother. It just makes people laugh even more, it just makes them point and stare and ridicule.

He cries sometimes, but only if he knows he’s alone. Only when he’s locked himself away in his room, in his closet, buried deep beneath covers or clothing so nobody has to hear him. Because if they did, they might just consider him even more “weird”. He doesn’t need to be reminded. He knows he’s “weird”, he’s haunted by the thought, it keeps him up at night when he should be getting good sleep before school the next day. It gives him dark circles under his eyes that his peers tease him for. Maybe that’s why he’s gotten into the habit of rarely cutting his bangs.

Satori is an “outcast”.

The first time he hears it is from his own father’s mouth. He doesn’t yell, he never really does, but Satori sometimes wishes he would just so he would show him some sort of emotion. His father tells him that the reason he is teased is because he is an “outcast”, and that he needs to find some way to “blend in”. Maybe a sport? Perhaps a club at school? 

Satori doesn’t want to “blend in”. He likes being himself, he likes being “weird” and “different”, and he wishes everyone else would just learn to accept him as he is. He’s never had a problem accepting others, so why shouldn't that be reciprocated?

Satori joins the volleyball club during the late half of his elementary school years. He’s seen games on television, watched kids playing in the park. He has high hopes, but those are immediately squashed when he introduces himself and receives mostly giggles and whispered comments about how odd his hair is, how dirty his skin looks because of his freckles, how dark his eye bags are, how knobbly his knees are and how awful his posture is.

Satori wants to cry. He wants to hide and never come back to the gym.

He stays, despite his heart feeling as heavy as an anchor and his eyes burning with the threat of tears. Maybe it’s his strong will or maybe it’s his need to wipe the stupid smile off those bullies’ faces, but he stays and he practices and he gets better, despite all the nasty comments being thrown around. And when he finally gets that opportunity, he feels like a lion being let out of its cage, finally given the opportunity to be free. 

By the time Satori gets to junior high, he’s developed his own method of blocking, despite his coaches being less than enthusiastic about his methods. The sport is fun, the way he chooses to play is fun, so why should he have to compromise that?

Satori sticks with volleyball because it’s fun, it gives him the opportunity to crush the egos of his opponents that start off taking him less than serious, just because he’s “different”. He sticks with volleyball and even though the teasing doesn’t stop, by the time he’s left junior high, Satori feels like he’s earned a sort of armor to protect him from the harsh words.

He feels like his wounds are finally starting to heal, like maybe he can remove those bandages because he doesn’t have to worry about them being prematurely ripped off anymore.

Satori goes to high school. He gets a sports scholarship to Shiratorizawa Academy. There’s still a small fear in the back of his head, reminding him that even if he has this weak armor, he’ll still never fit in anywhere, no matter how hard he tries. He knows this, he’s come to terms with it, even if it doesn’t get any easier.

What he doesn’t know is that he’s wrong.

After his first day, while standing outside the volleyball gym, Satori meets Ushijima Wakatoshi. Wakatoshi is tall and strong and stoic and Satori feels small in his presence. Wakatoshi tells him that he recognizes him from past tournaments in junior high, and Satori immediately remembers him as well. The ace tells Satori that his blocking is impressive, and that he’s excited to be on the same team as him.

Satori doesn’t know how to respond. He’s never known anyone to be excited about being in his presence.

He tells Wakatoshi that most people think he’s “different”, and that they don’t really enjoy being around him because of how “weird” he is. He tells Wakatoshi that he’s an “outcast” and that he’s nervous.

Satori isn’t sure why he opens up to Wakatoshi, but something about his presence is warm and comforting. Like he could say anything he wanted and Wakatoshi wouldn’t blink an eye.

Wakatoshi appears puzzled at the word “outcast”. Satori explains the meaning, saying that he’s been rejected by most of society.

And then Wakatoshi says the unthinkable. He tells Satori that, he too, is an “outcast”.

Maybe it was this moment, maybe it was the gentle, accepting smile on Wakatoshi’s face, maybe it was the sound of the rest of the volleyball team approaching with loud cries of excitement, maybe it was the welcoming nature of his teammates as he introduced himself and, for the first time, didn’t hear a hint of a laugh or a scoff, but instead the sounds of enthusiastic clapping and cheering.

Satori isn’t sure what it was, but he knows that something during these moments told him, promised him, that he didn’t have to worry about being “different” anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!!! comments/kudos are very appreciated, and feel free to come talk to me on twitter or tumblr!!
> 
> twitter: [tendouaf](http://www.twitter.com/tendouaf)  
> tumblr: [tendou-satori](http://www.tendou-satori.tumblr.com)  
> art blog: [kat-doodles](http://www.kat-doodles.tumblr.com)


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